Zoning Commission

The Lake County Planning and Zoning Commission will decide today whether to postpone consideration of a proposed fish camp and dry dock along Lake Minneola for 60 days. The postponement request was filed Friday by an attorney representing the project. Because of an editing error, a story in Tuesday's Lake Sentinel indicated otherwise.

Minutes from the Sept. 4 meeting of the Clermont Planning and Zoning Commission have been released. Those in attendance included Cuqui Whitehead, Bernadette Dubuss, William Henning, Nick Jones, Raymond Loyko, Curt Henschel, Dan Mantzaris and Rae Chidlow. A request for a conditional use permit to allow an adult daycare facility to be established in the M-1 Industrial Zoning District was heard. The proposed location for Lake County Adult Activity Center is at 246/248 Mohawk Road, Clermont.

NEW FACES. Two appointees will replace members of the Maitland Planning and Zoning Commission. Appointments of John Alexander, who plans to move into the city in August, and Gloria Kratzer, past chairman of the city's Code Enforcement Board, were approved by the council Monday. They will replace Rick Fogelsong, who has served since 1987, and Frank Sheehy, who has served since 1984. Alexander, a member of the Maitland Rotary Club, was nominated by council member Les Stephens. Alexander owns an office products business near College Park and was chairman of the Maitland Spring Festival this year.

Despite strong opposition from neighbors, the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday voted 6-1 to approve a zoning change that would allow an elementary school to be built on Hackney Prairie Road in Clarcona's rural area. The new two-story school would help relieve overcrowding at Clarcona Elementary, about three miles away. Judi Brown, who lives near the proposed site, gathered about 800 online signatures against the location and created http://www.keepgatesclosed.com to fight it. She argued that the county's school board didn't follow proper procedures to buy the site and instead should build near Ocoee High.

WINTER PARK -- If you wondered A) where you would park to mail letters at the post office inside The Carlisle; B) scratched your head about where the restaurant trash bins will reside; C) or shrieked when you heard there would be time shares within spitting distance of Central Park, read on. The answers: A) in the underground garage or in street spaces; B) in the guts of the building near where delivery trucks load and unload; C) "There will be no time shares in this project," the developer's attorney said Thursday night.

LEESBURG -- This month the planning and zoning commission rejected a request from the owner of an adult video arcade establishment to serve complimentary alcohol, according to city officials. The request by Barry "Little Bear" Lees, owner of Club Bogart, was denied in a 3-2 vote, according to Bill Wiley, Leesburg planning director. The establishment, approved by the planning and zoning commission in July, serves complimentary nonalcoholic beverages and food.

THE ORANGE County Homeowners Association will meet 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Oak Room of the Orlando Public Library, 101 E. Central Blvd. The speaker will be George Liuvingston, chairman of the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission.

SANFORD -- Two members of the Sanford Planning and Zoning Commission were elected chairman and vice chairman at the board's January meeting. Otto Garrett is the chairman, replacing Ross Robert. Bobby VonHerbulis replaces Andy Kutz as vice chairman.

SPECIAL MEETING. The Fruitland Park City Commission will hold a special meeting with the planning and zoning commission Thursday at 8 p.m. at the town hall.The commission is considering hiring Lake Land Planning Group for consulting work on planning, zoning and environmental matters. The two commissions will discuss what kinds of planning work the group could do for Fruitland Park.

Florida Rock Industries of Orlando plans to build a ready-mix concrete plant on five acres south of State Road 46 in Sorrento. The company has asked the county to rezone the land for the plant. The county Planning and Zoning Commission will consider the request Wednesday. The county commission will make a decision Sept. 9.

WINTER PARK -- Hannibal Square restaurants hope the fourth time's the charm in their effort to persuade the city to let them serve alcohol until 2 a.m. most nights, like the rest of Winter Park. The planning and zoning commission has voted three times to keep the more restrictive hours adopted in 1997 -- midnight on weekends, 11 p.m. during the week -- out of respect to west-side residents. Some business owners think the earlier hours were supposed to be a one-year trial. The City Commission agreed to discuss the matter at Monday's meeting, which starts at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall.

ORLANDO -- Architect and planner Dan Kirby was appointed to the Orlando Utilities Commission's governing board this week. The Orlando City Council ratified the appointment Monday, after Kirby was nominated by the OUC board from a list of three finalists. Kirby is director of development services for Boyken International, a construction and development consulting firm. He has served on Mayor Buddy Dyer's transition team, Orlando's Historic Preservation Board, and as chairman of the Maitland Planning and Zoning Commission.

SANFORD -- Two members of the Sanford Planning and Zoning Commission were elected chairman and vice chairman at the board's January meeting. Otto Garrett is the chairman, replacing Ross Robert. Bobby VonHerbulis replaces Andy Kutz as vice chairman.

Orange County -- The Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission this morning is scheduled to hear plans for a 58-acre development on Sandpiper Road that has at least one Apopka-area resident concerned. Lilian Myers recently started a Web site, savesandpiper.com, to inform residents about the development, which she says was originally described to residents as a community of 3,000-square-foot- to 5,000-square-foot estate homes. Now, according to Myers, the plans call for smaller homes on smaller lots.

West Orange County is home to more than just rampant growth these days. The area also is producing a slew of candidates for nonpartisan commission seats in three municipalities. Fifteen people -- seven of them political newcomers -- are running for office in Ocoee, Apopka and Oakland in the March elections. The majority are running for three commission seats in Ocoee. In the District 2 race, longtime Commissioner Scott Anderson will face three challengers. Anderson, 49, has served on the commission since he was elected in 1995.

WINTER PARK -- If you wondered A) where you would park to mail letters at the post office inside The Carlisle; B) scratched your head about where the restaurant trash bins will reside; C) or shrieked when you heard there would be time shares within spitting distance of Central Park, read on. The answers: A) in the underground garage or in street spaces; B) in the guts of the building near where delivery trucks load and unload; C) "There will be no time shares in this project," the developer's attorney said Thursday night.

State Attorney General Robert Butterworth says Florida's dual office-holding prohibition bars city council members from joining the county's planning and zoning commission.The legal opinion, written Monday, answers a question first posed by Lake County Commissioner Richard Swartz. Swartz said Thursday the opinion will halt his plans to invite a city council member to serve on the county's planning and zoning commission.The four-page letter from Butterworth to Lake County Attorney Chris Ford is likely to discourage others as well.

After losing the battle with the Planning and Zoning Commission, Walter Poynter plans to change his tactics tonight while seeking approval from the city council to place townhouses along Lake Shore Drive.''Instead of trying to tell them just about our project, I'm going to tell them the alternatives,'' said Poynter, a local builder who is planning the duplex or triplex townhouses with real-estate developer Robert Thompson.Last week, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 8 to 0 to recommend denial of a land-use planning change that would have allowed townhouses in Clermont's largest neighborhood restricted to single-family homes.

The pressure is rapidly building in Seminole County to alter its development course unwisely. If county officials aren't cautious they'll be creating major headaches for years to come. Everybody is watching to see what happens -- to see how Seminole County will evolve. The Seminole that emerged from last week's Planning and Zoning Commission meeting thankfully was the one that has been forward-looking and protective of its resources, from roads to schools. But as available land is drying up, an increasing number of developers are asking for zoning and land-use changes from commercial to denser residential development.

TAVARES -- The county's new zoning board will meet today at 9 a.m. in the commission chambers. It's the first meeting of the board since the County Commission split the planning and zoning commission into two boards to allow for more focus on the planning end. There are 11 agenda items ranging from rezonings to allow for church construction, horse breedings, single-family homes and commercial uses. The planning body held an organizational meeting Monday.